1920 Vauxhall

Type: Type E 30/98 Velox

Serial No. E311

Four-cylinder in-line side valve engine, 4526 cc, 90 hp at 2800 rpm.

Logic has little to do with creating legends. Consider this Vauxhall, in most respects an ordinary
car, albeit a pleasantly fast one. What set the 30/98 apart from its brethren was a certain je ne sais quoi
immortalized in 1925 by Aldous Huxley in Those Barren Leaves. The novel’s protagonist, Lord Hovenden,
was serendipitously transformed from milquetoast to swashbuckler whenever he got behind the wheel of his
30/98. Art imitated life.
A young draftsman, given his head when Vauxhall’s chief engineer was vacationing in Egypt, was
responsible for the 30/98. Told to tweak some more horses out of the venerable Vauxhall engine so the
factory could enter the 1908 RAC 2000 mile trial, Laurence Pomeroy put his theories on high-speed engine
design into practice and designed a side-valve L-head that, from 300 fewer cc, increased horsepower to 38
from the 23 developed by the previous T-head unit. The factory won the RAC trial over a Silver Ghost
Rolls, and Vauxhall had a new chief engineer.

Pomeroy got horsepower up to 60 in the subsequent Prince Henry model, which was fast enough for
Vauxhall but not for sportsman Joseph Higginson, who wanted a fast car of modest literage that would beat
the restrictive capacity formulae that were cramping his style at speed hillclimbs like Shelsley Walsh. The
result was the 30/98 with 90 bhp. In 1913 Higginson bettered his old Shelsley mark by a whopping 13.6
seconds for a record that would stand for eight years. Naturally there arose a demand for the car that
managed the feat.

The 30/98 was regarded merely as a fast tourer by Vauxhall. But owners recognized a competition
car when they drove one and made a habit of winning at Brooklands and elsewhere for nearly a generation.
This 30/98’s moments of glory did not include Shelsley Walsh 1921, however. In the first ess curve, J.S.
Kearns, the original owner of the display car, “failed to turn the steering wheel at the critical moment” (in the
charitable phrase of The Motor) and charged toward a banking packed with spectators. The most serious
injury, luckily, was to Kearn’s pride.
Shades of Lord Hovenden.

Stats

Year

1920 Vauxhall

Type

Type E 30/98 Velox

Serial No

E311

Engine

Four-cylinder in-line side valve engine, 4526 cc, 90 hp at 2800 rpm.

Wheelbase

117 inches

Weight

3155 pounds

Did you know?

The term “It’s a Doozie” comes from Duesenberg’s nickname, “Duesy” because the cars were exceptionally beautiful and extravagantly appointed. Learn more